


A Beauty All Its Own

by DirectionOfTime



Category: Star Trek: Deep Space Nine
Genre: A sly Garak still knows how to play his audience even if the audience is one, A very pleased Garak, Adorable diligent Bashir, Julian visits the rebuild of Cardassia, M/M, Post-A Stitch in Time - Andrew Robinson, There are still a few secrets between Garak and Bashir
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-22
Updated: 2017-08-21
Packaged: 2018-12-05 11:36:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,389
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11577276
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DirectionOfTime/pseuds/DirectionOfTime
Summary: Another day starts for a tired Garak on his long slog to rebuild Cardassia, that is, until he stops by the clinic to help out Dr Parmak and he finds an old Federation friend already hard at work. He'd almost forgotten how much he'd missed Dr Bashir and finds himself remembering that perhaps he still has a few things to tell the good doctor, that he might have neglected to mention in his letters.Post DS9Spoilers for A Stitch In Time





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I was thinking about a tumblr post about Bashir visiting Garak on Cardassia [post A Stitch In Time] — who mentioned it I honestly cannot remember (sorry!) but this is what just appeared whilst I’m working on a longer two-parter of Bashir/Garak which isn’t going as smoothly as I’d like :/
> 
> Be warned, I haven’t actually finished reading A Stitch In Time yet, so some of this might be wrong, but I loved the idea and just had to get it down on paper ^_ ^ Hope you enjoy!

**A Beauty All Its Own**

 

**Chapter I**

 

The morning found Garak long before he was ready to face it, the desert sun came streaming in through the cracks of the door, rousing him from his fitful sleep. Things _were_ getting better, but he still drew a deep, despondent breath at the thought of the day ahead, there were always more injured that needed tending, more dead who needed to be buried. He forced himself to his feet and washed with his meagre supply of water, dressed and walked the five kilometres to Dr Parmak’s clinic; the closer he got, the more he could see a greater-than-usual amount of activity. There were a lot of people awaiting treatment, the make-shift ward of the clinic had never looked so full — even if the majority were hurting and ill people, some of who were stoically trying to look as if they were fine though only succeeding in making themselves look far worse; he spotted Dr Parmak over in the far corner and walked over to say good morning.As he got closer, however, he realised that Dr Parmak was conferring with someone. 

That someone was dressed in very human civilian clothing, had short dark hair and dusky skin, 

“Dr Bashir! What _are_ you doing here?” He was stunned,

“Garak! There you are! I had been intending to come and see your first, but I came across this clinic and I bumped into Dr Parmak here, asking him for some directions but I decided to help him out,” Julian replied, finishing his bandage on the patient before rising to his feet, “I really enjoyed getting your letters, Garak, I wished I could have some sooner, but I decided to wait until I had the leave accrued, I’m here for a couple of months — if you’re all right with that?”

“Be… be all right with that? Of _course_ , you are most welcome here!” Garak couldn’t seem to wipe the grin from his face, 

“Garak, I apologise, but we need to tend to these patients first, with Dr Bashir’s help we should be able to help so many,” Dr Parmak interrupted, obviously delighted,

“Of course, there’ll be plenty of time for catching up later, Garak,” 

“Yes! I never expected to see you here, doctor, but I’m _very_ glad you are,” Garak said, earning a hearty smile in return from Julian,

“I’ll see you later,” He turned back to his work, Garak himself started at the opposite end of the ward, providing simple first aid, triaging to the best of his ability and helping to make people feel more comfortable, all the while his eyes feeling as if they were glued to Bashir’s form. Serious as he was when engrossed in his work, he somehow able to retain such an ineffable air of gentleness and empathy it was impossible not to feel at least a little bit better just by being near him; perhaps that’s why there were so many more people here on this day, it wasn’t just that there was another doctor to help out, it was the warmth and wellbeing that Bashir emanated that they could, on some level, sense. 

Garak had to admit, as well, that it was a rare sight indeed to see him in his civilian clothes — a simple shirt and trousers of a light linen type in a muted pinstripe with plain dark trousers — a little odd, but something about it just screamed _Julian Bashir_. He delighted in his work — a good thing he was able to, Cardassia was through the worst of it, this was all just mopping up, fixing up the loose odds and ends of the injured. Still, it was gratifying to see a warm smile and the kindness of an alien just because they were sick and he was able to help. 

Today, Cardassia seemed that little bit closer being rebuilt.

…

“Ironic, isn’t it? I’ve spent so much of my adult life trying to come back to Cardassia and the moment I was allowed to do so, it very quickly became clear that the only reason was because there no longer _was_ a Cardassia,”

“El— Garak, Cardassia _still lives_ it lives, in you, in Dr Parmak in all of the people still here, you have a lot of work to do, yes, but you also have the chance to rebuild, the turn Cardassia into something other than war-mongering, Obsidian Order-ruled Stratocracy… you can build a new Cardassia, in something stronger and fairer than what it was — you can help it and the people who still live here… you already _are_ helping,” Bashir spoke emphatically over his meagre meal. Garak suddenly remembered how much he’d missed his old friend.

“Were you going to call me Elim?”

“Ah… yes, sorry, I guess reading your letters made me feel so much… closer to you,”

“It’s perfectly all right, perhaps it is time we acknowledge that our relationship has progressed beyond the point of us needing to be so formal with each other…. Julian,” Garak answered, looking carefully at him, simultaneously keeping his thoughts to himself and baring his soul — if the good doctor was paying enough attention to read between the lines, of course. Julian merely grinned again, 

“I certainly agree with you,”

“I suppose you are right, about rebuilding, but there is so much about the _old_ Cardassia that I miss  — though I don't miss you trying to push your human values on me, no offence.”

“None taken! Nostalgia is hard to fight, but it doesn’t mean it that what’s old is necessarily the best,” 

“Haha haha!” Garak laughed, “Nostalgia? Oh no, nothing so dreary! I thought you’d read my letters?”  


“Yes, but there was something so melancholic in them, you seemed so lonely in your time on Cardassia as an agent, like you were so disconnected from your life — in some emotional way — that was a product of the system, even when you were with Palandine,” 

Garak opened his mouth to reply, but hesitated at the last moment, he regarded Julian very carefully; his words weren’t accusatory nor were they derogatory. It was just a statement about how he’d interpreted Garak’s letters. And yet, something struck a nerve, “And who are you to tell me I was lonely? Or that that was a bad thing? You were reading my letters with very human eyes, Doctor,” 

“They’re the only eyes I have, and, just in case you were wondering, I had the opportunity to work with some excellent neurosurgeons and neuroscientists who specialise in Cardassian brains and their structure — Cardassians might have different ideals, wants and desires from humans, but we fundamentally have some very similar areas and stimulus requirements for healthy brain tissue, especially when it comes to socialising,” Bashir kept his voice even and patient, even as he stared pointedly at Elim, “But I’m not trying to say how you _did_ feel, I’m only saying that the sense I got from reading about your past was loneliness… but that could just have been the way you wrote it and the way I interpreted it — communication is complex, especially across languages,” 

Garak said nothing for a few minutes as he took his last few bites of food; it would be easy to argue semantics and linguistics but it wasn't what Bashir was getting at, he knew, “Lunch time is almost over,”

“Yes,” Bashir finished off his own lunch in two bites and guzzled from his glass of water, “I’ll… see you later?”

 

“Garak,” Dr Parmak interrupted as he hurried over, veiled anxiety colouring his words, “Please come quickly, Dr Bashir, please continue with the patients, I’ll be back to help you in a moment,”

“Is everything all right?”

“Yes, I just need Garak’s… _diplomatic_ talents for a few moments,” Parmak explained as Garak rose to his feet, 

“If you’ll excuse me, Doctor,”

“Of course,” 

They walked out towards the door, “There’s a man outside who claims he brought his child in several days ago for treatment, but now he can’t find her and is blaming us for negligence,” 

“I see,”

“I don’t remember seeing a child that matches the photographs,”

“And you want me to help provide some damage control?”

“Ah… well…”

“I’m perfectly happy to help,”

“Dr Parmak!” An arrogant, hurried voice called out to them, 

“Yes, yes I am back, do you have that photograph again? My colleague here might remember her,” Dr Parmak patiently replied as the barrel-chested Cardassian thrust the small pad at Garak, barely giving his eyes time to focus on the image before demanding an answer. The picture was of a young child, she must have been about eight to ten and held a stern look in her eyes — she appeared to be a focused and driven child; a relic of the old system. Of the children who had been to see Dr Parmak, most of them had a tentative curiosity, but an unmistakable lust for life — despite the ruins to negotiate and food shortages of many, there was something fulfilling to the spirit to be outside and work with one’s hands, so much so, even the children could sense it.Dr Parmak discreetly excused himself to return to his patients.

“I’m sorry, but I don’t recognise her, when did you say she was here?” Garak asked, “I don’t remember you either, I’m afraid, did you drop her off?”

“No, my elder daughter was with her,”

“Do you have a picture of her?”  


“I’m afraid not,” 

“When was this?”

“Approximately four days ago,”

“No… I definitely don't remember that and I’m good at recalling faces, ah..?”

“Thos, Yeren Thos,” 

“Well, I will certainly ask around to see if anyone else recalls, but I’m afraid I can’t promis—”

“My daughter _was_ here and I want her back!” 

“Are you, by any chance, thinking about another clinic? There are a handful set up in the province, I believe,” 

“No.” 

“Well, then I’m afraid I have little else to suggest to you. I will certainly keep my eyes open for that child, but in the meantime, it might be useful for you to ask around, just in case, there was some sort miscommunication,” Garak offered politely, but at the return look on Thos’ face, which was of utter contempt, elicited only the urge for Garak to punch him in his large, round face. Kept carefully controlled, of course, one of the pillar’s of diplomacy was, after all, courtesy. 

“There was no miscommunication, I will at least, look around the clinic first,” He shoved himself past Garak and marched through the opening flap. Taking a long, slow, silent breath to gather himself, Garak followed him in and returned to his duties, whilst keeping a close, critical eye on Thos and his conduct.

“And what do you think _you_ know about treating Cardassians?” The booming voice of Thos distracted him from handing out fresh drinks of water to the patients; he turned to find the grumpy former-gul towering over Bashir,

“Excuse me, but I have been a practicing doctor for many years, with a lot of experience in treating Cardassians and as I’m sure you can see, Dr Parmak has a lot of patients with very little help,” Bashir replied emphatically, raising his voice just enough to get his point across, but not so much as to scare his patients, "I am quite sure both he and they would prever I offer my services to help them rather than listen to you shouting, _if_ you will excuse me." Thos didn’t directly reply other than a brief look up and down before he turned away to continue his searching; Garak couldn’t help the small smile which took a hold of his lips and before he could quell it, Bashir caught his eye — and his smile — which he returned briefly before turning his attention back to his work.

 

…

 

“Garak, we’ll call it here for the night, thank you for you help — and I think Dr Bashir could use a hot meal and the comfort of a friend’s house to rest for the evening,” Dr Parmak spoke, 

“Very well, though I’d hardly call my shack a ‘house’,” 

“With enough love any shack or closet can be a home,” Parmak spoke and perhaps it had been all the years that Garak had spent around humans that he recognised the euphemism long before he registered the genuine kindness in his words,

“You… might be right,” 

“Garak, are you finished too?” Bashir appeared, untying the stained apron covering him,

“Yes, it’s a bit of a walk, but the air is cool,”

“To what?” Bashir was a little confused, 

“My house, of course, you don’t expect me to let you sleep on the street, do you?” 

“No… but… I thought your living accommodations were a little, ah…”

“Ramshackle? Yes I do regret the rather dilapidated nature of my current home, but its better than nothing,” Garak offered and earned a smile back of Bashir, 

“If you’re sure it’s all right, then let’s go,” The stepped out of the wash tent and began the walk down to ruined road in dying sunlight, “I apologise if I offended you earlier,” 

“No, you didn’t; your words did make me think, though and to tell you the truth, I think your words hit a little closer to home than I was prepared to admit,” Garak offered, keeping his eyes on the road ahead of them, “I think I’ve spent my life building walls to keep people out, to pretend that loneliness was never really a part of my life, even though it has, I think, been the central tenant,” He explained, half wondering why the words were escaping him so easily and with so little shame; he could feel Bashir’s eyes on him, though he declined to meet them. “But, enough about me, how have you been, Julian? What are you doing at the moment, have you been moved to a starship?”

“Uh… no, actually, I’ve taken an interim posting at Starfleet Medical, which has offered some great exchange programs, we’ve been trying to boost the knowledge of our junior doctors, to better help all of the different species both in Starfleet and the alpha quadrant,”

“That sounds interesting,”  


“What’s interesting is seeing what the Klingon’s call ‘medicine,’” Bashir deadpanned, “But as for the Breen, we still have no idea, they’re the ones we’re really trying to get to agree, but they’re still holding out as usual,” 

“I’m not surprised, they almost made the Obsidian Order look downright flagrant,” 

“Well, we never expected much from them, but its always worth asking, at least. I’d never really been on Cardassia all that often, or at least, I never had the opportunity to really see it, but somehow, now that I’m here, free to wander in its ruins, I have no idea what I expected to see,” 

“I don’t think anyone knew what they were expecting when they returned, myself included,” Garak sighed, “Everything is such a mess and yet, in someways there are far more people here willing to sacrifice for other’s genuine benefit rather than because they’re afraid of the system,”

“It sounds like progress, to me,” Julian half-whispered though the sudden intimacy of his quiet voice felt almost like a shock; Garak was quick to change the conversation.

“Have you seen anyone else from that station, recently? How are the O’Briens doing?”

“Not bad, I saw Miles and Keiko a couple of months ago, you wouldn’t believe how big Kirayoshi is now and Molly is trying to decide if she wants to join Starfleet or not,”

“ _Humans_ they have to have an opinion on _everything!”_ Thos’ voice interrupted them, Garak was surprised more than anything that he hadn’t realised the man had followed them, “I thought I recognised you earlier, you’re a former Obsidian Order agent — you worked with Tain… you were exiled! You above all should _not_ be among those who get to decide the direction of the new Cardassia!” Thos’ voice raised in anger as he spoke until he pulled a phaser from nowhere, “I will not stand by and watch the world that Tain orchestrated be rebuilt once again!” He fired and knocked Garak off his feet and into unconsciousness.

..

.


	2. Chapter II

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So between these two chapters I finished A Stitch In Time (and I fucking loved it!! If you haven’t read it, it is wonderful and I highly recommend it!) but…. it sort of interferes with what I was planning for this chapter so… will you be kind enough to allow and AU within an AU? It doesn’t exactly sit right with the closing events of ASIT, but close enough… sort of… >.>
> 
> That said, I hope you enjoy and thank you to all who left kudos and/or commented ^_ ^ It’s your love that fuels the stories! (Well, that and Star Trek XD)
> 
> Also want to apologise for how long its taken me to finish this chapter, ~gestures vaguely~ life is hard and so busy

 

 

**Chapter II**

Julian’s grin seemed a little _too_ amused, “Something funny?” Garak asked, awkwardly shifting to a half-sitting position on his bed, the phaser blast from yesterday certainly ached, but there was thankfully not much damage. The gul’s phaser, not having been properly charged nor serviced since the fall of the Union was not very effective. Rather… _interesting_ in Garak’s opinion, for such an oversight to have occurred.

“Oh, I suppose it’s nothing, it’s just I can’t help remembering just how resistant you always were to allowing me to treat you — or even set foot in the Infirmary aboard DS9 and yet here you are, back on Cardassia, volunteering at a clinic and with a doctor now living in your home,”

“Well… there wasn’t nearly as much rebuilding to do on Deep Space 9 and you can’t have a nation without any people,”

“I suppose not,” Julian agreed, handing him a glass of water, 

“What happened to Thos? And how did you get me back here?” Garak asked after a sorely needed gulp of cool water,

“He made a swift disappearance after he realised that his phaser wasn’t as lethal as he’d hoped and I used the shuttle’s site-to-site transporter when I realised that you were only stunned,” 

“Shuttle?”  


“Yes, I left it in orbit for the time being,”  


“A wise plan, there are many still left on this world who wouldn’t hesitate to scavenge for parts,”

“I guess we were lucky that Thos was foolish enough to attack you with a doctor by your side,”

“I’m lucky to have you here at all,” Garak freely admitted, watching Julian carefully and, for the first time, noting the first shadows of hairs over his chin and upper lip — he had no idea that he needed to shave so often. 

“I… am almost surprised at how honest you are with me now,” Julian replied,

“I suppose there aren’t too many secrets left between us, hmm?”

“But there are still some, aren’t there?” Bashir pushed, though he received only a wry smile in return. 

“It’s a good thing you’re here for a few months, my dear doctor,” Garak replied, the same smile never leaving his lips, Julian only let out a sigh of feigned irritation, 

“Well, I guess it would get boring if you told me everything all at once,” 

“Haha—” Garak tried to laugh, but it only aggravated his wounded chest and he started coughing, 

“Easy, easy,” Bashir helped him take a drink of water, his hand finding the back of Garak’s head, supporting him as he took a drink,

“Thank you, I was going to say how pleased I was that you’ve clearly taken my lessons to heart,” 

“Well,” Julian smiled broadly, “I have a secret or two of my own for you to figure out, Garak.”

“Do you?” Elim’s eyes flashed with intrigue for a moment,

“Yes, but now is time for breakfast, fancy anything in particular?”

“I have only the cryo-dry packs, I’m afraid,”

“So I saw! You do remember that replicators are equipped on all shuttles?”

“I had quite forgotten!” Garak shot up to sitting position, his desire for food momentarily getting the better of his aching body and he winced slightly,

“You can order anything your heart desires!” Julian laughed, “Well, as long as it’s on the ship’s database, of course,” 

“I would love a Katarian breakfast sandwich, with all the toppings and a rokasa juice, please!” 

“Coming right up!” Bashir agreed and tapped his comm badge before transporting away. Garak took the opportunity to visit his sorry excuse for a bathroom and change his phaser-burned and sweaty clothes. Julian was soon back with two plates of piping hot food and drinks, 

“I had no idea you liked Katarian food, Ga—Elim,” 

“Well, its something of a guilty pleasure, rather fattening I’m afraid,”

“You been working hard on only rations, I’m sure you could use a little fattening up,” 

“Not for the slaughter, hopefully,” Garak had meant it as joke, but Julian’s face dropped,

“Not whilst I’m around. But the food will get cold, let’s eat,” He tucked into his own plate of something he’d described years ago as a ‘full english without the beans’ — whatever that meant — whilst Garak himself took great relish in his first bite of his long time favourite breakfast — and one he’d been without for almost three years. Uncharacteristically, their meal was silent — aside from the usual, unflattering sounds of mastication and cutlery on crockery, but Garak found himself, by the end of the meal, utterly content with both the company and his full stomach.

 

“Feel better?” Julian asked, 

“Much!” Garak took a long draught of his juice, “The council buildings will interesting today, many of the ministers and councillors are planning on an interim vote from the colonies and how we will proceed from here,”

“You mean, whether there will still be a Cardassian Union?”

“In effect, Mardok and Evek are still trying to bully their regimes ahead of others — but what, exactly, those ideals are, they’ve yet to elaborate on and, I, as you might recall, withdrew my presence from those meetings a little while ago,” 

“You did mention — wasn't your friend… Pythas a part of those?”

“He was,”

“Might he know who Thos is?”

“Hmm, I think that would depend entirely on whether Yeren Thos is an alias or not,” Garak rebutted, “I have to say its a rather telling oversight to try and kill me with an unserviced weapon, don’t you think? Either he has an excellent cover story or he came here on the orders of those men.”

“But why now?”

“Perhaps it’s not just me who was surprised by your visit doctor,”

“I suppose… ” Bashir agreed, his mind whirring over the conclusions the Cardassians might have drawn over his presence, “Have you seen Pythas recently?” 

“No, I’m afraid not, I heard of him occasionally through Kelas, so I know he’s alive, but I suspect he is too ill to make the trip out here anymore,”

“I’ve been wondering about that, how come there are no transports? There are plenty of buildings, you have power, water, food _and_ medicines, yet there is no transportation?”

“Ah, its difficult to create with the resources and limits we have at the moment, there aren’t a lot of trained mechanics or technicians left on Cardassia and those of us who are left are much too proud to ask for help.”

“Hmm,” Julian offered a noncommittal murmur as he took a sip of his raktajino; Garak could easily guess he wanted to suggest that someone just ask for help — _he_ would ask the Federation — and be damned with the wounded pride later, though remembered to keep his ‘human ideals’ to himself at the last moment.

 

“Would… it be worth using the shuttle’s transporters to get you to Pythas?” 

“An interesting idea and one that I think we should pursue, but I think it might be wise to conduct a little… _reconnaissance_ , first,” Garak drained the last of his juice, “We will go to the city, Julian, but first, we wait for somebody’s tongue to slip. What listening device patterns is your shuttle’s replicator programmed with?”  
“Ah… a few early basic ones, I think, I haven’t actually looked,”

Garak shook his head in a teasingly disapproving manner, “Really, Julian? You’re getting lazy! But we’ll replicate a few then beam them into the room and listen for a full cycle, or, more accurately, you will, I will beam down and locate Pythas — or Nal Dejar and advise her that I would like to meet with him the next day,” Garak rattled off, only to be interrupted by Nal Dejar herself beaming into Garak’s hut,

“I am glad to see that you are well, Mr Garak,” She greeted calmly, despite the outraged surprise on both Julian and Elim’s faces; the doctor had even leapt to his feet, “Please calm yourself Dr Bashir, I am here to speak with you both on the orders of Pythas, I took the liberty of hacking into your shuttle’s communications and transporter for the sake of expediency, I do apologise,” 

“Um… It’s… it’s all right,”

“Garak, we’ve been following the man who calls himself Yeren Thos — his real name, is actually Fyron Damar,” Dejar spoke with grandeur and, in Garak’s humble opinion, wasted a truly great opportunity for a showy reveal, though at that particular moment he was far too surprised anyway to make a point of saying it. 

“Damar? Glinn Damar? I thought all his sons had been killed?” 

“So we’d thought as well, but we have several sources that all point to him being a son of Damar,”

“Like what?”

“I haven’t the time to explain, I need to get back to the council buildings before the meeting starts, Pythas thinks that the attack yesterday was less of a serious threat and more of a warning, to what end, we are still investigating — we also have some suspects on the council that might be behind him—”

“Like Evek?”

“Yes,” She replied calmly, as Garak cocked an eyebrow, his mouth opening slightly as he were about to speak but thought better of it, “What Evek might want, its doubtful this is something he’s thought of alone and, to be frank, at current you aren’t nearly important enough to be the end game of this, but you are a key player in some fashion. Pythas will be in touch,” With the parting slap of such an insult, she dematerialised within a second. 

“Oh _yes_ , Dejar, please help yourself to my home! Appear without invite and without warning, hurl insults at me and then depart, by all means!” Garak had begun to wander about his home, “ _Unimportant!_ Who does she think she is?” Garak spat, puffing out his chest with indignation, his expression only souring as Julian failed to completely stifle his laugh, “You think this is funny, _Doctor?_ ” 

“Well… no, no I don’t. You have to be important in some way, other wise Damar wouldn’t have targeted you,” 

“Yes, yes, that’s not the point — she thinks I’m _stupid_ , Julian, don’t you see? Damar had no reason to target me, even when he was Dukat’s guard dog, he only disliked me because Dukat told him to, we reclaimed Cardassia together and there was no one in the quadrant who didn’t know about it,” Elim gesticulated wildly, “Damar was a man without a shred of individual ambition, all the ambition that man ever had belonged to someone else — you can’t create ambition, you have it or you don’t and Damar, ambitionless, proud and stupid would never have tolerated a woman better than him in any way… no, whatever child that may or may not exist from any coupling Damar had, is not responsible for this. Now, a Dukat is a different story, I’ve managed to make myself the mortal enemy of _two generations_ of Dukats, I’d certainly warrant a murdering by one of his sons,” Garak explained, his ill temper abating at the thrill of the analysis, “No… that comment about Damar was a misdirection,”

“Why? I thought you and Pythas were friends,”

“Two, very dangerous assumptions, Julian,”

“Okay, what I mean is, what reason does he have to lie to you? Why would he send his lackey to lie to you?”

“She is much more than a lackey, Julian… I really think we should get going to the clinic, we’re already late,”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea? Are you sure you’re up to it?”

“I feel perfectly fine, Doctor, thanks to your excellent care, just some sore ribs and a sore ego,” 

“Nothing, I’m sure you haven’t suffered before, Elim, _Com_ puter! Site to site transport to Dr Parmak’s Clinic,”Julian replied as he slapped the comm badge on his chest with aplomb and they appeared outside the shabby make-shift clinic.

 

“Garak! I had not expected to see you today! How are you? I head about the attack yesterday, I am so sorry!” The Doctor gushed as he hurried over to the pair, 

“I’m quite all right, Doctor, Julian was able to fix up was little damage was done and here we are — and we can’t very well give away the impression that I have been frightened by a mindless thug. We have duties to attend to,” Garak walked off, through the numerous patients and began to do what he could for them. Barely an hour they’d been at work before the place was on fire. Not that it was Garak’s fault, of course, but rather it appeared to be an arson attack of some sort or another and a rather pathetic attempt at one. Almost as pathetic as the earlier attempt on Garak’s life. The only real danger was the fact that Julian was in the midst of major surgery; those who would walk, Garak immediately drafted in to help those who couldn’t outside — with help from the other nurses — before he returned to tackle the fire. 

 

It was small but growing fast and threatened to swallow vital supplies, Garak ripped off his outer tunic and smothered the flames, soon joined by a young medic-in-training — Oiyal was her name — she grabbed a spare blanket from of the beds and the flames were soon enough extinguished,

“Thank you, Oiyal, hurry and tell Dr Bashir that the fire is out and he should continue his surgery without concern,”

“Yes!” She replied and hurried off. The child was barely a teenager, but clever and ambitious, she’d learned the ropes inside a day and whenever Dr Parmak had a little time to spare, she soaked up whatever wisdom he could pass on. She would make an excellent doctor one day… if there was any chance of her accessing formal training, of course. Garak picked up his burned and tattered tunic (his favourite) and sighed, with only his under-vest on, he felt decidedly naked with bare arms, a low cut and nothing but two straps over his shoulders. “Someone has _terrible_ taste in practical jokes,” He murmured to himself before heading back outside to try and find any evidence, though not before rooting through Julian’s bag for a spare tricorder.

 

“Gara—um what happened?” Julian hurried over to him, his eyes lingering over the unexpected display of flesh, 

“Just a little arson, I’ve picked up some traces of DNA, though I’m not sure if the shuttle will have any sort of a database with which to compare the results and _that_ was the weapon in question,” He pointed to a smashed, scorched pot,

“A molotov?” Julian questioned, a little confused, 

“A what?”

“An improvised fire bomb,”

“Precisely; it’s the same sort of pathetic effort as yesterday,” 

“You think its Thos again?”

“I wouldn’t be surprised,” Garak snapped the tricorder closed, “Even if I did find from some troubling evidence,” He walked over to a nearby ditch, a body lay within, “It’s Thos, but he hasn’t been dead more than half an hour, so our next questions are who killed him, why and why they left the body so ill-hidden will draw our attentions next,” Garak turned away from the body and began to walk back towards the clinic, its ugly, blackened outside wall a reminder of both failure and success. 

 

“How did the surgery go?” Garak changed the conversation,

“Perfectly, he’s recovering now, all thank’s to your quick thinking. How are _you?_ Have you been injured?” Julian’s eyes roved over his body again, though as a Doctor looking for injuries; Elim felt it keenly all the same.

“Ah, the only casualty was my favoured tunic as I smothered the flames, with help from Oiyal,” 

“Yes, it was a relief when she told us. Here, beam up to the shuttle and replicate yourself a new tunic,” Bashir handed him the comm badge, 

“Thank you, I do feel rather… underdressed,” Garak accepted the badge and beamed away; Julian let out a breath and walked back in to the clinic after a quick check over of the patients outside, the worst injury being minor smoke inhalation and panic.He stepped in through the doorway and walked down the corridor into the main room, looking for Kelas, only to find him with a phaser pointed at his face by a strange Cardassian woman, 

“Ah, excuse me?” Julian asked, more annoyed by her audacity than he was frightened by the threat, she glanced over her shoulder, looked him up and down and frowned, 

“Where’s Garak?” 

“Indisposed at the moment, what do you want with him?”

“We need to talk,”

“Okay and you needed a phaser because..? We are a _medical_ facility, you know,” All Julian had to do was imagine all the _excellent_ opportunities he’d missed in annoying Chief O’Brien and the sanctimonious words flooded out of him,

“Cut the attitude, Starfleet, all I’m hearing is that I have the phaser and you don’t, tell me where Garak is,”

“No. So what now? You just kill all of us? You still won’t find Garak but you will have a lot of angry people chasing you, including the Federation.” 

 

The transporter beam activated and the man himself appeared in the centre of the room, “Were you looking for me?”

“Garak,” She turned on him instantly, forgetting about everyone else in the room,

“It would appear that we have found the source of our troublemaking — you did hire that bumbling fool to try and kill me, didn’t you?”

“No, that was all Evek’s doing. I did however step in and stop you from dying.”

“How _thoughtful_ of you, now why would you do something like that for me?”

 

“My mother suffered a lot in her life and I remember you being a direct cause of a lot of it — but I do also know that you made her happy, if only for a few short years… in this Cardassia we need as many people as we can muster and I want to see you destroyed Elim Garak but I want it to happen on a level playing field, I want all of Cardassia to watch as I ruin everything you are and see that they were wrong to ever want your leadership.”

“You certainly are spirited, perhaps that’s how you survived.” Garak replied calmly, his eyebrow raising as he lifted the phaser in his hand to point at her, “Even after all these years… but I’m afraid your timing could use some work,” She appeared unconcerned with Garak’s unvoiced threat, she barely glanced at the weapon,

“I’m not here to fight, I’m hear to tell you to keep your head up — like it or not you’ve attracted a lot of attention from all the wrong reasons and most of them want you dead; I want a fight. That arson attack came from Evek, I just headed it off, as well as the attack from Thos.”

“I’m curious about something, that man outside, Thos, what was his real name?”

“Yes,”

“You killed him?” 

“He was in the way,” 

“What a delightfully Cardassian spirit,” Garak replied, a saccharine smile pulling at his lips, “Yet you want me alive, just for the sake of defeating me?”

“You were the protegé of Enabrin Tain a man who held Cardassia under his whim for decades and you were the one due to inherit it all before you threw it away for a _fling_ … The son of Tain surely has one last fight in him before he succumbs to mediocrity,” 

Garak took a moment to gather his response; “So it’s a taste of the glory days you’re after,”

“No, a final destruction of the old Cardassia, of everything it stood for is what I want and you, Elim are a pillar of _that_ Cardassia,”

“Am I? A man who was exiled for over a decade, removed from everything Cardassian in that time yet somehow _I_ am a pillar? Not Evek? Not Maratok? Not Pythas?” Garak listed, 

“You are the roots, what lies in the shadows that feeds men like those. The Obsidian Order was the soil in which the Guls and Legates rose full of their self importance but always at the mercy of Tain, whether they knew it or not.”

“How very astute of you,”

“Do what you want, Garak, but being shot on some dirt road by a distgruntled former Gul doesn’t seem very fitting, does it?”

“Glory is relative and usually meaningless… you definitely were never in the Order,” Garak dismissed, 

 

“You choose who you save and who you sacrifice,” Kel rose her phaser and aimed it at Julian in an impossibly fast movement, a blinding light distracted them all for a few moments until Garak could recover before he rushed over to Julian, who was on the floor, but looked none the worse for wear. He gripped his shoulder as he looked around the room for her but to little avail, 

“I’m all right, Garak,”

“Are you sure?”  


“Yes… except for my shoulder,” Garak realised that he’d been squeezing his shoulder with all his strength,

“Sorry! I’m sorry,” He released his hand immediately,

“I’m fine, I think she just wanted to make a flashy exit,” Elim lifted Julian to his feet, as a handful of nurses rushed out of the room to make sure no one else had been hurt or that Kel wasn’t still lingering. 

“She’s gone, I suspect and I need to sit for a few moments,” Dr Parmak said, walking laboriously out of the ward room.

 

 

Garak, Kelas and Julian all made their way to main office for a breather, “Good thing this place is never busy so we can appreciate a little action every now and then,” Garak said as he took a seat on one of the chairs, placing the phaser on the desk beside him. Julian leaned against said desk as Kelas took the free chair on the other side of the room. 

“What are you still doing here, Elim?” 

“There’s a lot to clean up, we just got threatened by a—”

“No, no, I mean, what are you still doing _here_ — wasting away being a nurse when you should be the one leading Cardassia, you should be on that council keeping men like Evek and Mardok in check, you know all of the council business, and yet… you’re here, hiding away, pretending like you don’t have greatness within you,”

“Kelas,”

“No, Garak, you’re using this clinic as a place to hide… if I were a crueller man, I might call it a delicious irony that you are finally back on Cardassia yet you insist on still behaving as if you were in exile,”

“Maybe I still am in exile; back then I longed to return to Cardassia with a desire deeper than I could ever express and yet… when the moment came to return, even before the fall, I realised that the Cadassia I wanted no longer existed. I longed for a home that had been lost to time the moment I left. I wept for a memory, not realising that it was such until it was far too late. Being in this Cardassia is more painful than being on DS9 ever was… because I _know_ that all I can ever have are memories but then… _then_ I had a small, fallible hope that I might one day have that reality again,” He paused a moment, feeling wretched laugh bubble within him, “And I did! I did come home... to ash and loss and a parody.”

 

Dr Parmak rose to his feet, his silence saying what he could not; “You still have friends here, Elim,” He glanced to Julian, “And many who love you. Our homes reside in those who love us and who we love in return. This Cardassia, Elim, is formed and beautiful, it does not need rebuilding it just needs to be cleaned up, to be loved — much like us.”

“He’s right, Elim,” Pythas was at the door to the office, he walked to the nearest chair to take a seat; he carried his scars like old friends now, their pain idle chatter in his ear. “You have never been a man lacking ambition, you have never been afraid to take the steps necessary to ensure victory; what’s changed? Even when you initially joined the council I knew you would not stay long, your spirit has dulled, EIim,” 

“Has it?” Garak replied, an almost manic smile gracing his lips, he glanced over a Julian, as if expecting him to find the joke exactly as amusing, “My edge has dulled? Says the man who sends his lackey to come and feed me with _inaccurate_ information,”

“It wasn’t inaccurate,”

“It also wasn’t the whole story,”

“Clearly you are still clever enough to figure it out,” Pythas passively replied, 

“For a man who’s _lost his edge_ , of course,” 

“The council needs you, Cardassia needs you and its time for you to step up,” 

“Why should I?” Garak snarled back,

Pythas sighed and rose to his feet, “Cardassia is in danger of going one of two ways, but I believe there is room for a third, less radical way… but there’s only one man who can make it happen,”

“You’re getting sentimental in your age, Pythas,”

“If I’m getting sentimental, then you, Elim, have lost your courage; if you have ever loved Cardassia in the past then you can love it now and help us set it on the right path were neither radical can set the tone for the next generations. Many watched you wrest Cardassia from the Dominion and developed a strong respect for you. If you call out, they will answer,”

“And what if I don’t want to call out?”

“Elim,” Pythas began, amusement underlying his words as he hobbled out of the door to find Dejar, “One thing you have never been tired of, is the sound of your own voice.”

“Why is everyone suddenly desperate to convince me of this?” Garak asked, though it wasn’t entirely clear who he was addressing,

“There are worst things than an enemy and a friend trying to tell you the same thing,” Julian answered anyway,

“A fool’s politics… The clinic nearly burned, Dr Parmak has nearly been killed several times, _you_ were almost shot today, Julian — and you expect me to just walk away?”

Julian looked at him long and hard, “Tackle the problems at their sources — you know very well all these things are symptoms not causes, it’s only going to get worse if you ignore it, you’re to clever not to know this,” Julian answered softly before rising to his feet, “What do you say we get out of here before anything else happens, today at least?”

“I think you’re right.” Garak agreed.

 

…

 

 

“He told Kel where to find me,” Garak whispered as he took a few steps inside his home, “He put her up to it, all to persuade me to rejoin the council,” 

Julian closed the door behind them and stared at Garak’s back; he stepped forwards, wrapped his arms around the waist of the man in front of him, “I’m sorry, Elim,” He rested his head against his shoulder,

“J—Julian,” Elim touched his hand to Bashir’s, it was barely a moment before he pulled away and stepped forwards, turning to face him, 

“I told you I still had a secret or two of my own. I think you should join the council,” Julian said his voice full of sincerity, “And… I think _I_ should stay on Cardassia, working with Dr Parmak. Or set up my own clinic.”

“But… Starfleet…” 

Julian took a step closer to a bewildered Elim, “They can offer me an attaché position, or they can accept my resignation,”

“You can’t be serious!” 

He took another step closer, “Oh I am perfectly serious; there's a lot of work to do here and, if today has been any indication, I think you're going to need all the people who love you close by,"

Elim could only stare at the human in front of him, dumbfounded and, despite the seriousness Julian was trying to convey, he couldn't help a small smile, "I think this is the first time I've managed to render you speechless, Elim, I wonder what other ways work?"

..

.


End file.
